Desickling of sickled erythrocytes by pulsed radio-frequency field.

Electric fields were found to deform sickled erythrocytes. When the intensity of applied fields exceeded a threshold value, sickled erythrocytes transformed into a spherical shape. Prolonged application of the field usually caused hemolysis of erythrocytes. Deformation of red blood cells could be partly reversed if the field was turned off at an early stage. The cause of desickling may be the interaction of the field with the erythrocyte membrane and also with gelled intracellular hemoglobin S molecules.